A system of this invention has particular (albeit not exclusive) application in the installation of “safe room” bulkheads for use in a mine. A “safe room” is a room formed in mine, usually by mining an adit that requires a fourth wall or bulkhead to enclose the room. When the bulkhead is in place, the room provides a refuge for miners immediately after a mine explosion has taken place. The safe room is equipped for life support, similar to a mobile refuge chamber installed in a mine for the same purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 7,533,942, assigned to Kennedy Metal Products & Buildings, Inc. of Taylorville, Ill., describes one such refuge chamber.
The bulkhead of a safe room must be able to withstand high pressures resulting from a mine explosion. While the structure of the bulkhead itself can be constructed to withstand such pressures, the mine strata to which it is attached adjacent the entrance to the safe room is relatively weak. Conventional means for attaching the bulkhead to the mine strata are generally inadequate to withstand the pressures generated by an explosion. As a result, an explosion may cause failure of the attachment and degradation of the safe room.